Two midwives arrested over extortion

Bugiri, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Police in Bugiri district on Saturday arrested two midwives attached to Bugiri general hospital, over extorting money from mothers before discharging them after their deliveries.

The suspects who are being detained at Bugiri central police station are Agnes Lyaka and Zaituni Kalinaki.

Their arrest stemmed from confiscating discharge certificates of two mothers, who had failed to raise 200,000 Shillings as earlier on demanded from them.

The said money was meant to cater for their medical bills, yet the procedures were conducted in a government hospital, where all antenatal services in the general maternity ward are offered free of charge.

The mothers whose identities have been withheld both underwent C-sections on Tuesday night, and they were discharged on Wednesday afternoon. However, the suspects denied them exit and instead detained them within the maternity ward, yet they had fully recovered.

One of the mothers stresses that, the discharge certificate would help her to travel past security road blocks without being uninterrupted.

“I, alongside my attendant would use this discharge certificate to freely travel back home without persistent interruptions from security officers, however, failure to show such a document complicates our movement plans since most policemen always claim that mothers use their babies as an excuse to abuse the current public transport ban,” she says.

After days of failing to raise the required funds, the mothers approached the Bugiri Resident District Commissioner, Godfrey Nyakahuma who in turn teamed up with police detectives and they jointly laid a trap which led to the arrest of the suspects.

Nyakahuma says that several patients have often complained of extortion at the hospital however, the vice kept on increasing since they lacked evidence to prosecute the suspects.

“We sourced the money, photocopied it and delivered it to the suspects, who were arrested while attempting to share the same amongst themselves a few minutes later,” he says.

Nyakahuma adds that the suspects will be prosecuted before the Anti-corruption court.

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